[LateRuin]

What GDP/capita band was turkey at before Erdogan? Answer: $3k (google it yourself)

Also, why do you say ‘stuck’? Growth is still rapid despite ~4mil refugees, a war next door, and a difficult geopolitical environment. Europe collectivel lost their shit over a million refugees!

Banning wikipedia was stupid, but hardly matters to anyone with 3 neurons to rub together. Even free browser-extension class VPNs are enough to get around that ban (and the bans on porn sites as well)

I am sure many top tier developets and other talent have left Turkey, but this is a common problem across the middle class world. Look at tiny, free Estonia or other EU countries near Turkey. They are worse off already and are de-populating rapidly (bulgaria, romania, etc)

Turkey is far from perfect, but I continue to support AKP because they continue to deliver. The main opposition (CHP) are members of the Socialist Internationale and are unreformed old leftists. They ran the country for most of its Republican history and didnt deliver anything for the vast majority of Turks. We didnt get economic growth or freedom. Just google around for the level of Kurdish support for Erdogan, i think many on this site would be surprised.

[grenoire]

Normally I don't bother presenting arguments to AKP supporters, but you cannot make statements based on GDP per capita growth without actually comparing the changes in income inequality, purchasing power parity (both inflation and exchange rate), and increased taxation with little government investment in return over public infrastructure. In addition to that, the opportunity costs and potential growth levels are also very relevant here.

Looking at Turkey in its own bubble might look great to you, but try to do so by also taking into consideration all that is not so rosy. You can ignore rampant corruption by showing off with the figures that go up, but you cannot possibly ignore the unsustainability thereof.

Finally, Turkey has had a turbulent past, even recently so. Attributing the bad times only to the parties in charge during those periods is an ignorant thing to do. AKP and Erdoğan got very lucky with the timing, and I strongly believe that any other party could have done a similar, and even better, job in terms of economic indicators.

[positivecomment]

Does it still look wonderful:

https://www.google.de/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&m...

Also, I searched for the Kurdish support: https://i.imgur.com/bWnm5Sb.png

I can say that I wasn't surprised.

[lolc]

At this point, I will discount any public statement of support for Erdogan coming from inside Turkey. Political freedoms must be restored first.